Astronomy Highlights: What's Visible in the November Night SkyNight Sky viewing guide for November 2024 including Moon phases, conjunctions, meteor showers and Deep Space Objects to see.
Moon Phases in November 2024
November's full moon is called the Frost moon, as this is typically when the first frosts of the year appear. Other names include the beaver moon.
| November 2024 Moon Phases | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1st | 2nd | |||||
| 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
| 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th |
| 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd |
| 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th |
November 15 is the third and final supermoon of 2024. The Moon will be near to its closest approach to Earth, making it appear slightly larger and brighter than usual.
November 2024 Meteor Showers
The Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs annually from September 7 to December 10. It peaks this year on the the night of November 4. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
The Leonids is an average shower, producing an average of up to 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865. The shower runs annually from November 6-30. It peaks this year on the night of the 17th and morning of the 18th. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
The Planets in November 2024
On November 16th, Mercury reaches its greatest eastern elongation of 22.5 degrees from the Sun. Mercury will be at the highest point above the horizon in the evening sky, making it an ideal time to observe. Just after sunset, look for the planet low in the western sky.
November 2024 Deep Space Objects
The Orion Nebula (M42 and M43) are prime targets in the winter months hanging in the South Eastern sky. They are easy to locate as they form the sword hanging from Orion's Belt.
M78 is a reflection Nebula in Orion which is often overlooked. M78 is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula in the sky. The nebula can easily be seen in large binoculars and small telescopes, which show a hazy, comet-like patch of light with two 10th magnitude stars that illuminate it. 4-inch telescopes will sometimes reveal the haze around M78 and also show the nearby reflection nebula NGC 2071 under good conditions. 8-inch telescopes begin to show the details of M78.
The nebula is pretty easy to find as it is located only about 2 degrees north of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's Belt.
Alnitak has two other prominent nebulae associated with it - the Horsehead Nebula and the Flame Nebula. M78 is a bit further away from the star than these two.
The horsehead nebula sits just to the east of NGC 2023 towards the double star Sigma Orionis and the flame nebula to the west of Alnitak.
In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.
| # | Image | Common Name | Constellation | Coords | Direction | Mag | Size (arcmin) | Type | Star Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M2 NGC 7089 | Aquarius | 21h 33.5m RA -00° 49m Dec | S | 6.30 | 16 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M31 NGC 224 |  | The Andromeda Galaxy | Andromeda | 00h 42.7m RA 41° 16m Dec | SW | 3.34 | 190x60 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M32 NGC 221 | Le Gentil | Andromeda | 00h 42.7m RA 40° 52m Dec | W | 8.08 | 8x6 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M33 NGC 598 |  | Triangulum Galaxy | Triangulum | 01h 33.9m RA 30° 39m Dec | SW | 5.72 | 70x41 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M34 NGC 1039 |  | Spiral Cluster | Perseus | 02h 42.0m RA 42° 47m Dec | S | 5.50 | 35 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ |
| M35 NGC 2168 |  | Shoe-Buckle Cluster | Gemini | 06h 08.9m RA 24° 20m Dec | SE | 5.30 | 28 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ |
| M36 NGC 1960 |  | Pinwheel Cluster | Auriga | 05h 36.1m RA 34° 08m Dec | SW | 6.30 | 12 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ |
| M37 NGC 2099 |  | Salt and Pepper Cluster | Auriga | 05h 52.4m RA 32° 33m Dec | SW | 6.20 | 24 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ |
| M38 NGC 1912 |  | Starfish Cluster | Auriga | 05h 28.7m RA 35° 50m Dec | SW | 7.40 | 20 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ |
| M42 NGC 1976 |  | The Orion Nebula | Orion | 05h 35.4m RA -05° 27m Dec | S | 4.00 | 65x60 | Diffuse Nebula | 🔍︎ |
| M43 NGC 1982 | | de Mairan's Nebula | Orion | 05h 35.6m RA -05° 16m Dec | S | 9.00 | 20x15 | Diffuse Nebula | 🔍︎ |
| M45 |  | The Pleiades | Taurus | 03h 47.0m RA 24° 07m Dec | SE | 1.60 | 110 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ |
| M74 NGC 628 | Phantom Galaxy (Perfect Spiral Galaxy) | Pisces | 01h 36.7m RA 15° 47m Dec | SE | 10.00 | 10.5x9.5 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M76 NGC 650 |  | The Little Dumbbell | Perseus | 01h 42.4m RA 51° 34m Dec | Z | 10.10 | 2.7x1.8 | Planetary Nebula | 🔍︎ |
| M77 NGC 1068 | Cetus A | Cetus | 02h 42.7m RA -00° 01m Dec | S | 9.60 | 7.1x6 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M78 NGC 2068 |  | Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula | Orion | 05h 46.7m RA 00° 03m Dec | S | 8.30 | 8x6 | Diffuse Nebula | 🔍︎ |
| M79 NGC 1904 | Lepus | 05h 24.5m RA -24° 33m Dec | S | 8.56 | 8.7 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M103 NGC 581 | Cassiopeia | 01h 33.2m RA 60° 42m Dec | Z | 7.40 | 6 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M110 NGC 205 | Andromeda | 00h 40.4m RA 41° 41m Dec | W | 8.92 | 21.9*11.0 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
